Tourism in Zell am See - Travel & Leisure
Welcome to Zell am See Travel & Leisure! Zell The tourist attractions of Zell concentrate several areas. The original Lake Zell reached somewhat further to the north and extended south to the Salzach river. The dimensions of the lake, however, have changed over time into marsh areas. The lake has the shape of a peanut, with an area of 4.7 square kilometres (1.8 sq mi). The mountains of the area form a horseshoe shape, the slopes are mainly forested or covered with Alpine pastures. The Hausberg ("home mountain") of Zell am See is the Schmittenhöhe, 1,965 m (6,447 ft), which together with the adjacent Salzburg Slate Alps range in the west is part of the Greywacke zone between Northern Limestone and Central Eastern Alps. Mt. Schmittenhöhe is a popular centre for skiing and winter sports. The nearby Mt. Hundstein ("Dog Stone") at 2,117 metres (6,946 ft) is the highest peak of the Salzburg Greywacke Zone. Zell am See provides winter skiing on the above Schmittenhöhe mountain. The skiable area is approximately 138 km, including the pistes on the Kitzsteinhorn and Kaprun Maiskogel. The ski pass covers the whole area including transport to and from the glacier which is open most of the year, dependent on snowfall. Zell am See is a low-altitude ski area and snow cover can suffer from higher temperatures, but the glacier has snow cover most of the year. In 2017 Zell am See announced a potential merger with Saalbach-Hinterglemm ski resort. In the 2019-2020 ski season the Zell am See Express 1 gondola was opened which allows access to the Zell am See Express 2 gondola at the base of piste 21 from Viehofen. Notable ski pistes in the resort include: The Trassabfahrt (14) which is the steepest piste in the region reaching an incline gradient of up to 75%, the Standardabfahrt (13) which is another valley run reaching an incline gradient of 60%, and the recently reopened Tannwaldabfahrt (21), a ski racing piste in the 1930s, and is well known for being consistently icy, and having a high steepness-width ratio in some sections of the piste.